From its humble beginnings in 1997, Mercedes-Benz China Fashion Week has grown to become an important date on the international fashion calendar, with some 90 designers showing at this year’s event and buyers from around the world expected to attend.
The transition for China from a manufacturer to respected design authority was not an easy one and can be credited to a handful of pioneering designers, among them Frankie Xie Feng.
“When I enrolled in college, fashion design as a major wasn’t even an option, so I had to study fabric design”, says Frankie. “But I loved fashion so much, when my classmates were studying fabric I was busy drawing models.”
Frankie’s graduation project was rated so highly that he stayed on at the collage as a teacher. His work was also awarded in the China Clothing and Culture Competition and it was while attending this award ceremony Frankie saw his first fashion show.
“I went to Beijing to attend the award ceremony, and I saw my first runway show. It was such an amazing experience, I was so such by the charm of the show, at that moment I made up my mind not just to be a designer, but to be a Master in fashion”.
Finding China, at that time, to be wanting in terms of fashion design experience and materials, Frankie decided to move to Japan. “ There really was a lack of good design in China when I was young, and there really was no place for me to go. At that time, Japanese designers, such as Kenzo and Comme des Garcons were heavily influencing the whole world, so I decided to go there. For a young boy in my twenties, this experience was so precious and so memorable.”
But it was while working in Europe that Frankie began thinking about setting up his own brand. “ I guess it’s every designers dream to set up their own brand. While I was working in France, I met the manager of an Italian company who invited me to meet his Chief Executive Officer. This man gave me so much advise about setting up my brand. He was a real inspiration. So Jefen was born, there were a few surprises along the way, but for the most part is was relatively smooth.
In 2006, Frankie took his brand to show at Paris Fashion Week. It was the first time a Chinese brand had ever shown. “When I decided to join Paris Fashion Week, I regarded it as a chance to make history. My mission was to let the world know about Chinese designers. Our first press preference was held on October first, the National Day of China. The Chinese Ambassador to France and many big names in the French fashion industry attended, it was very stressful. After the conference, I received a huge amount of press coverage. Afterwards, Jefen was no longer just a label; it was a label that represented the whole of China. All the coverage opened the same way ‘Chinese designer or designer from Beijing’, so I decided to take responsibility and promote not just myself but China to Paris and the rest of the world.”
Today Jefen is a respected global brand presenting both couture and ready-to-wear lines. “Jefen’s attitude remains the same. To present Chinese culture, philosophy and aesthetics to the world through clothing. Jefen designs consider every type of consumer, always, but we are renowned for serving workingwomen in China with designs that walk a line between casual and business. China’s fashion industry is improving constantly, as are Chinese consumers. I always say a remarkable fashion industry needs remarkable consumers, and I find that China is becoming that. However, on the other hand, I also feel that China’s industry is in danger. In my opinion it is too influenced by European fashion. China’s fashion industry in the key period of transition. There are some bottlenecks to break out in terms of fashion, culture and policy. If we can’t break out, it is hard to improve productivity. We need to become a fashion producing area, not a product producing area.
I believe, with the rise of emerging consumer groups, the huge consumption potential will push China’s fashion industry to improve. And China’s national strengths are getting stronger within fashion, many brands now exhibit som “Chinese element” and “Chinese design”. Our country is supportive; I think China will be an important part of the International fashion industry. I hope China’s fashion industry can be a similar success story to The Silk Road promoting Chinese culture to the world”.
Jefen’s Spring Summer 2017 collection, titled Pleasure in the Mirror, certainly exhibits lots of Chinese elements. “We added a lot of Chinese elements, including Beijing opera and Kun Opera, so we gave this collection a very Chinese name. The collection represents our hopes for the future. In the future, we will mix Jefen ready to wear and Jefen by Frankie High Couture, because we want to change our ready-to-wear stores into cultural stores, this is our direction in the future. I think other brands will also do this, the boundaries between ready-to-wear and High Couture will be indistinct”.
After a career spanning 30 years in the fashion industry Frankie is still passionate about what he does and his energy for his brand shows no sign of abating. “I would love to open a store in Macau and many other places. After graduating from school, studying abroad and spending 30 years in the industry, I still love design. So if I can do my favorite thing and share gorgeous things with the rest of the world, I see no reason for me to ever stop.
中国时装之梦
首位登上巴黎时装周舞台的中国设计师谢锋，向《澳门精华》讲述了他的灵感、事业以及对未来中国时装的展望
自1997年创办以来，梅赛德斯-奔驰中国国际时装周已发展为国际时装界的一个重要年度盛事。2016年时装周更是有90位本土设计师在时装周上展示作品，买家亦来自全球各地。
中国从制造商的角色过渡到受尊敬的设计权威一路走来并不容易，几位先锋设计师则功不可没，其中包括谢锋（Frankie Xie Feng）。
“我报考大学时，时装设计甚至都还不是一个专业，因此我不得不报考了面料设计专业”，谢锋表示。“但我太热爱时装了，所以当我的同学研究布料时，我就忙着画设计稿。”
谢锋的毕业作品获得高度评价，以致被留校任教。他的作品还在中国服装和文化大赛上获奖，也正是在这次颁奖仪式上，谢锋看到了自己的首个时装秀。
“我去北京参加颁奖典礼时，看到了自己的首个时装秀。那次经历简直太美妙了，我被秀场的魅力深深迷住，那一刻我下定决心，不仅要做一名设计师，还要成为时装设计大师”。
当时的中国在时装设计经验和素材方面乏善足陈，不尽人意， 谢锋决定前往日本深造。“我年轻时的中国的确缺乏好的时装设计，我完全没有发展出路。当时，日本设计师，例如高田贤三、川久保玲等深深影响着全世界，所以我决定去日本。对于一个20几岁的年轻人来说，这段经历非常宝贵和难忘。”
但考虑创立自己的品牌，还是谢锋在欧洲工作时才有的想法。“我觉得，创立自己的品牌是每个设计师的梦想。我在法国工作时，遇到了一位任职于一间意大利公司的经理，他邀请我去见他的行政总裁。这位行政总裁给了我很多有关创立自己品牌方面的建议。他给了我巨大鼓舞。于是吉芬（Jefen）诞生了，虽然一路上也有惊喜和波折，但总得来说还是比较顺利。”
2006年，谢锋把吉芬带到了巴黎时装周。这是中国品牌首次亮相巴黎时装周。“当我决定去参加巴黎时装周时，就把它看作是一个创造历史的机会。我的任务就是让世界了解中国的设计师。我们的第一个新闻发布会在10月1日国庆节举行。中国驻法国大使及法国时尚界的著名人物都出席了发布会，我深感巨大压力。发布会后，媒体对我进行了大量报道。发布会后，吉芬不再只是个品牌，而是代表整个中国的品牌。所有媒体报道开篇都是’中国设计师或北京设计师’，我决心挑起担子，不仅向巴黎及世界推介我自己的品牌，更要推介中国”
如今，吉芬已是一个深受爱戴的全球品牌，推出了高定系列和成衣系列。“吉芬依旧秉持相同的态度：通过服装向世界展示中国的文化、哲学和美学理念。吉芬设计一直都考虑所有类型的顾客，但我们最闻名的还是，为中国女性上班族设计介于休闲和商务之间的时装。中国时装业不断进步，中国的顾客也是如此。我一直都说，出色的时尚产业需要出色的客户，我发现中国也在朝这方向发展。但从另一方面来说，我也感到中国时尚业境遇危险。我觉得业界受欧洲时装的影响过重。中国时装业正处在过渡的关键时期。我们要突破时装、文化、政策瓶颈。如果我们无法突破，也就很难提高生产力。我们要成为一个时装创作区，而不是产品生产区。”
“我相信，随着客户群的壮大，巨大的消费潜力将推动中国时装产业继续提高。中国国力变得越来越强，时装界的许多品牌都在展示’中国元素’和’中国设计’。我们国家也很支持时装业的发展；我认为中国将成为国际时装业的重要博弈者。我希望中国时装业能像丝绸之路一样成功地把中国文化推介给世界。”
吉芬2017春夏系列——镜花水月，呈现了许多中国元素。“我们添加了许多中国元素，包括京剧和昆曲元素，因此我们给了这个系列一个非常中式化的命名。系列代表着我们对未来的希望。未来，我们将融合吉芬成衣和吉芬高级定制服装，因为我们希望把吉芬成衣店变成文化商店，这是我们未来的发展方向。我觉得其他品牌也会这么做，成衣与高定时装的界限会变得模糊。”
尽管已经在时装界打拼30载，谢锋对这份事业热情依旧，他对吉芬付出的心力也不减分毫。“我希望在澳门及很多地方设立店铺。大学毕业，然后出国深造，并在时装界打拼了30年，我还是热爱设计。因此，如果我能做自己喜欢的事情，并同世界分享美丽的事物，我有什么理由停下来呢？！”
